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By Bryan Berg  December 26, 2009, at 9:38 pm  When the Rangers scored with 47 seconds left in the third period to tie tonight’s game at 2, I assumed that was it for the Islanders. The Rangers would go on to win in overtime; if they didn’t do that, they’d win in the shootout. I had my mental consolation speech prepared. It went something like this: “It’s a damn shame they didn’t win tonight. Kyle Okposo was a beast. Even if he never scores again, he should make the U.S. Olympic team, because he still makes things happen. Oh, and I f*&@ing hate the Rangers.”
Then, almost out of nowhere, Kyle Okposo, he who was a beast tonight, fired off a wrist shot that deflected off Marc Staal’s skate, then the post, and then found the back of the net. Islanders win in overtime.
MSG Plus gave us a bunch of stats that I thought said a lot about these two teams. First, Brandon Dubinsky’s second goal gave the Rangers their first point in a game where they trailed after two periods. That’s plenty of fodder for the “The Rangers have no heart” chorus. Second, the Islanders earned their 37th point a full 13 games before they hit the 37-point mark last year. Third, the one we all know a little too well, this was Okposo’s first goal in nineteen games. Lastly, and perhaps most pathetically, the Islanders have consecutive wins for the first time in almost two months.
Yes, the Islanders gave up a crucial point to the Rangers, a team they may be battling for a playoff spot later this season. But this was a big win for the Islanders. They took it to their biggest rivals tonight and got two points. They got a bit of a raw deal with the schedule – their game against the Flyers tomorrow starts just 22 hours from the drop of the puck tonight – but the Flyers are terrible and the Islanders are riding a great wave of momentum. Truly, there’s no reason why they can’t beat Philadelphia tomorrow night; there’s even less reason why they can’t beat Columbus on Tuesday night. That’d be four in a row. It probably wouldn’t get the Isles into the top eight before the end of the year, but it certainly would send them into 2010 on a positive note.
Huge win tonight. And one last note on Okposo – now that he’s broken his goal drought, look for him to heat up in the very immediate future.
By Anthony De Franco October 17, 2009, at 12:57 pm We’ve all been wondering when Strikeforce was going to make their first big move to try and compete with the UFC. Up until now, it’s been all about picking up guys that the UFC no longer wants like Nick Diaz. Then, 3SS favorite Jay Hieron actually chose to take Strikeforce’s offer over that of the UFC. However, the first person to make the jump might just be one of the UFC’s top fighters. From Cagewriter:
It’s one thing to nab Fedor Emelianenko and retain the rights to Gegard Mousasi, now Strikeforce may have awakened the beast by stealing Dan Henderson from the UFC. Henderson, who has been pining for a title rematch against Anderson Silva, finally gave up on that possibility and according to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole is going to sign with Strikeforce
The obvious fights for the 205-pound Henderson with Strikeforce/Showtime have to be Mousasi and newly signed Mo Lawal. There may not be a ton of depth for Henderson to run through but at 39-years-old, he’s clearly jumping at one final chance to make big money and the opportunity to fight on CBS. Strikeforce debuts its first CBS card on Nov. 7.
Our theory is that Henderson was told that he isn’t going to get his shot at Anderson Silva anytime soon. Silva is in a position of power because he’s one of the UFC’s main draws and now has the power to make his own fights because of his popularity.
However, you have to say that some of those fights are really interesting. I would love to see Mousasi take on Hendo’s big right hand at 205, and Jake Shields at 185 is an intrguing wrestler versus grappler match-up.
Don’t think that it’s a done deal yet, though.
UPDATE: According to MMA Fanhouse, management on both sides say no deal is done.
“We had a brief get-to-know-you session with (Strikeforce) and met them for coffee, but to say he’s close to signing would be a gross misrepresentation,” said Henderson business partner Aaron Crecy said.
When reached by FanHouse, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said, “We’ve had dialogue with Dan but that’s all I’d like to say.”
Nonetheless, Hendo is in a situation where he is going to take whatever the best offer is. This is a good thing for MMA, because as long as Strikeforce stays in business, there will be more jobs for fighters in this country and fewer of them will have to go abroad to make a living.
If Henderson is the first fighter to make the jump, he might be blazing a trail for future athletes in his sport to make more money and live a better life. However, something tells me that Dana White might not be happy, and Hendo might burn all his bridges back to the UFC.
By Anthony De Franco July 24, 2009, at 2:40 pm In the most recent trade deadline deal, The Oakland Athletics traded LF Matt Holliday to the Cardinals for 3 minor leaguers: 3B Brett Wallace, OF Shane Peterson, and RHP Clayton Mortenson.
This is a bit odd because I was sure that A’s GM Billy Beane was going to hang on to Holliday. He had reportedly coveted the two draft picks that he was going to get for letting his left fielder become a free agent at the end of the season. However, he was bowled over by a package from Tony LaRussa and his young player-hating self.
A ton of people a have given Holliday crap this season because he hasn’t hit as well as he did in Coors Field. Therefore, everyone became an expert an said that he was a creation of Coors and wrote him off as an average player. However, what they failed to notice is that after his absolutely brutal start, he’s been a solid power hitter (. The only stat of his that has really declined is his slugging percentage, and I have a hunch that it will jump back up now that he’s no longer playing in a cavernous park like Oakland anymore.
The key to the whole deal is Wallace. While being an absolutely atrocious defender at 3rd base, He is a beast as a hitter. Fangraphs posted an article where he is compared to “Kevin Youkilis before he found his power stroke.” That means about 20 home runs each year with a huge on base. Not to mention that fact that Pablo Sandoval has given hope to fat guys everywhere who want to play third base.
In addition to that, They gave up their 12th best prospect according to ScoutingBook.com in pitcher Clayton Mortensen. Mortensen is a ground ball specialist, with high groundball rates. Shane Peterson was also involved in the trade, but is less of important piece.
At the end of the day, I really love this trade for the A’s, but the Cards get to roll out a 3-4 of Pujols and Holliday this year.
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